Steely Dan's Donald Fagen Sueing Walter Becker's Estate

11-24-2017.

(hennemusic) Steely Dan singer Donald Fagen is suing the estate of his late bandmate, Walter Becker, as a legal battle begins over control of the band and its brand in the aftermath of the guitarist's passing on September 3 from esophageal cancer.

Rolling Stone reports the Fagen and Becker's widow, Delia, are at odds over the status of a 1972 Buy/Sell agreement that stipulated that if a member of Steely Dan quit or died, the band would purchase all of that member's shares in the group.

Fagen reportedly received a letter from Becker's estate four days after the guitarist's death stating that the 1972 deal was "of no force or effect", that Delia be appointed a director or officer of Steely Dan, and that she was entitled to 50 percent ownership of the group.

"Fagen, acting on behalf of himself and on behalf of Steely Dan, as its sole remaining officer and director," reads the suit, "hereby exercises the mandatory provision of the Buy/Sell Agreement requiring Steely Dan to purchase Becker's shares."

The suit notes that in 2009, Becker "reaffirmed his commitment to the Buy/Sell Agreement and its validity" and that, by the 2010s, the pair were the "only remaining shareholders and signatories to the Buy/Sell Agreement."